the first that readlectures of astronomy and arithmetic in that nation, from whence those two sciences passed into Greece. Prophane authors tell us that he reigned at Damascus; that he invented letters, and the Hebrew language, and that he wrote a book on the creation, intitled Jezira. The Persians believe him to be the same as Zoroastres, the founder of their superstition. S. Why was the king of Egypt called Pharaoh? T. Pharaoh, signifying one that is free from, or above the laws, was a proper name for a king; and thus in the Coptic tongue it is a king. This name was the title of the Egyptian kings for many generations after. S. Whereunto did Abram journey from Egypt? T. He returned with Lot and all their substance and herds to the altar at Bethel. But in a little time their substance grew so great, that they could not with conveniency and accommodation dwell any longer together. Quarrels daily ensued a mongst their herdsmen. At last by consent Lot removed to the fertile and pleasant plains of Sodom and Gomorrah, at the end of which was the little city Zoar, on the banks of Jordan, leaving Abram in possession of their first habitation at Bethel; 'till the Lord having renewed the promise of enlarging his posterity, and confirmed the gift of all the land, he could see, to him and them, he also removed to the oak or grove of Mamre, not far from Hebron or Chebron, where he built a mother altar unto the Lord S. In what part was Hebron situ ated? T. Upon a hill twenty miles to the S. of Jerusalem, and twenty N. from Beersheba. It was built very soon after the flood; and was first called Kirjath-Arba, S. Did Lot live at peace in his new habitation? T. No. He was soon after his settling at Sodom taken by Chedorlaomer's army, who was king of Elam, that is, Persia, and his allies, who came to reduce the king of Sodom, and four more of his petty tributaries, who had shaken off his yoke and confederated against him. S. Who was this Chedorlaomer? and by whom was he assisted in this expedition? S. The Chedorlaomer of Moses was king, or royal governor of Persia, first under Zameis, probably Ninyas, who then lived in Persia, at the head of the Assyrian monarchy; which Ninyas was the first that appointed deputies under him with the character of kings or royal governors; of which sort was Amraphel king of Shinar, his deputy Babylon; and Arioch king of Colo-syria, his deputy at Elapas, Ellas, or Ellasar, a city on the borders of Arabia: these deputy kings, with Tidal king of nations, assembled their forces and marched against the five petty kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela, or Zoar; who stood upon their defence in the vale of Siddim, but were vanquished, and their cities became a prey to the conquerors, who carried away Lot and all his substance. This is the first pitched battle recorded in scripture. S. What did Abram do on this practice very common in ancient occasion! T. He no sooner heard thereof, but, putting himself at the head of 318 of his servants and taking with him three persons, who probably furnished him with forces on this occasion, Arner, Eshcol and Mamre, he pursues the enemy, comes up with them in the night, divides his "little army into companies, surprises and attacks them from several quarters at once in such a manner, that he not only recovered Lot and his substance, but all their spoil and captives, and routed them entirely. This gained Abram so much credit and esteem among the neighbouring nations, that on his return after the slaughter of the kings, whom he pursued to Hoba on the left of Damascus, that he was met by the king of Sodom, who acknowledged his obligation to him for so signal a deliverance, and profered him all the booty; though Abram, who had nothing but the public good in view in what he had done, would retain no more of the spoil than what might be the just proportion of his auxiliary three companions and of that he also gave the 10th to Melchizedeck, who likewise congratulated his success, and refreshed him and his men with plenty of all things in their march home. S. Who was this Melchizedeck? T Melchizedeck was king of Salem or Solyma, which is now called Jerusalem, and lies in the way, by which Abram must have returned from the territories of Damascus to Hebron: Or, he might be no other than the chief of some petty government, over which he acted both as king and priest, a times: and having studied the peace of his people, and being the only one that had avoided the destruction, which their rebellion had brought upon the neighbouring states, on that account was stiled the peaceable king, or the king of Salem, that is, peace. Moses has given no account of his genealogy, so the apostle to the Hebrews, for this reason, represents him as without father, without mother, without descent; having neither beginning of days, nor end of life: however, though his pedigree is not known, we are sure that he was a person of eminence, a king of righteousness and peace, a priest of the most high God, unstained with the corruptions of idolatry which surrounded him; who kept his people within the bounds of the true religion, and worship; and who had the honor of being an eminent type both of the person and priesthood of our Lord. S. What became of Lot, after his deliverance? T. He returned to Sodom. S. Did not the Babylonians send a more powerful army to revenge this defeat upon Abram ? T. No. But as this was to be : ble as the stars; and seals this promise by a covenant, at Abram's request. Take, says God, an heifer of three years old, a she goat of three years old, a ram of three years old, a turtle dove and a young pigeon; all which Abram took, and he divided the heifer, the goat, and the ram in two, and laid the halves opposite to each other, leaving the fowls whole then he passed between the dissected bodies, made his solemn vows of perpetual obedience to God, and took care that no birds of prey did settle upon them; till God casting him into a deep sleep attended with horrible darkness and dread of spirits, spake again unto him saying, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterwards shall they come out with great substance: and thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace: thou shalt be buried in a good old age but in the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.' And the Lord confirmed these words by smoak and fire, either as emblems of the divine presence, or visible symbols, of the manner how these predictions should come to pass; first he made Abram see a smoaking furnace, which is a plain emblem of the afflictions of the Israelites in Egypt; and then a burning lamp, pass between the pieces of flesh and consume them, which being the usual way of declaring the divine acceptance of an extraordinary sacrifice, and ratifying a solemn covenant, may be consi dered as pointing out their defiverance after four hundred years bondage. S. Did God send Abram a son immediately? T. No. And Sarai despairing of issue from her own womb, prevailed with her husband to take Hagar her handmaid, possibly given to her by Pharaoh, to be his secondary wife, by whom he had a son named Ishmael: but this was not to be the heir of Abram's house and therefore about thirteen years from the birth of this lad, the Lord appeared again to Abram; renewed his coveuant with him; instituted the right of circumcision; changed his name to Abraham, and his wife's to Sarah; and assured him that she, who had been hitherto barren, should bear him a son within the compass of a year, whose name should be Isaac: promising at the same time to make Ishmael a great nation, and the father of twelve princes; but confining the covenant and promise of making all the nations of the earth blessed, to Isaa only. S. Did Abraham believe this. T. Abraham believed it, and immediately circumcised himself, with his son, and all the males of his family. An ordinance religiously observed by the Jews to this day. For it was enjoined upon that nation with this severe penalty, that the uncircumcised man-child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from God's people; which lasted till Christ came, who, by his own death, answered all the ends of those prior institutions; and instituted baptism, as the seal of his covenant, instead of circumcision. But Sarah did not believe so readily; for, soon after, three angels (one of which is generally, and with the highest reason, believed to be the son of God) coming to his tent, in the appearance of travellers, and being courteously invited in, and entertained by Abraham: one of them, in the hearing of Sarah ratified to him the promise, that within a year she should bear him a son. Sarah laughed at it, as an impossibility; and the divine messenger rebuked her incredulity, by assuring her, that nothing is impossible with God. And afterwards Sarah conceived. S. How had Hagar behaved to Sarai her mistress, after she had conceived Ishmael by her master Abram ? T. Hagar, finding herself with child, despised and insulted her good-natured mistress. But Sarai, making her complaint to Abram, by his permission used her with so much severity, that she attempted to escape into Egypt her native country; which probably she would have effected, had not the angel of the Lord met her in the way, and persuaded her to return, by promising, that God would multiply the offspring of her body so exceed ingly, that it should not be numbered. Hagar obeyed the voice of the Lord and, though we may imagine, it was much against the inelination of her proud spirit, she returned to her service, submitted herself to her mistress, and was delivered of her son Ishmael, to the great joy of Abram, : S. I thought you told me, that Abram had taken her to wife? T. I did so. But the concubinary, secondary or half wives, which men took on occasion of their wife's barrenness in the infancy of the world; though they were accounted lawful and true wives, their issue reputed legitimate, had a lawful right to the marriage bed, and might justly claim the privilege thereof, as well as the first or chief wife; yet they were in all other respects infcrior, and subject to her and as they had no authority in the family, nor share in the household government; so if they had been servants in the family, before they came to the concubinage, they continued to be so afterwards, and in the same subjection to their mistress, as bcfore they had been admitted partners in their master's affections. So you sce, Hagar was both Abram's wife, and Sarai's servant. Where it is worth noting, that the differences that happened in the family of Aupon that occasion, shew that such marriages were often attended bram with unhappy consequences: therefore when Christ came, he ordained the marriage union to be between one man and one woman only, as it had been at the beginning of the world. S. What is the meaning of these two names, Abram and Abraham T. Abram imports a high father, but Abraham denotes a father of a great multitude: as indeed he was, from whom not only the twelve tribes, but the Ishmaelites, the Edomites, and all the posterity of Keturah in Africa and Arabia, with the kings of the Saracens in Babylon, Egypt, Africa and Spain, were do. scended. But above all we must remember, that of his race, according to the flesh, was born the Messiah, who was the king of kings, and lords of lords, in whom all the - nations of the earth are blessed. S. How long did the angels stay, that were entertained by Abraham? T. After the gentle rebuke of Sarah by the angel, and assuring them again, that at the time appointed, Sarah should have a son, they departed from thence, and looking towards Sodom, Abraham accompanied them on the way; when the Lord in consideration of his extraordinary piety, made known to him his design to execute divine vengeance on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah; whose pride, opulence, hatred of strangers, giving themselves up to the most detestable vices, excessive sensuality, and abandoned uncleanness, had provoked the Lord to destroy them. S. What did Abraham do on this extraordinary occasion ? They at first seemed to decline the favour; but at length submitting to his pressing intreaties, they entered his house. The men of the city, admiring the beauty of the youths, came together in a riotous manner, and demanded his two guests, that they might abuse them in that unnatural manner, which to this day is known by the name of sodomy, and by our laws is punished with death. The abominable people be came so outrages, that Lot going out and shuting the door after him, to see if he could have dissuaded them from their wicked purposes, and offering his daughters to satisfy their lusts, rather than suffer the laws of hospitality to be violated, and so horrid a crime perpetrated, was in danger of being murdered by them. Then the angels interposed to rescue him, pulled him into the house, shut the door, and struck these Sodomites with blindness, that they could not afterwards find his door. They then informed him of their commission, and recommended, that if he had any sons, daughters, or sons in law, he would persuade them to leave Sodom; that the cry of the city was come up before the Lord, and they were to receive the just reward of their abominations. T. When he saw that the angels bert their course towards Sodom, he stood yet before the Lord, and with great compassion and humility, and in a manner never to be enough admired, gradually intreated the Lord to spare them and was promised to be heard, had there been left ten righteous persons in that city: the Lord then went his way, Abraham returned to Mamre, and the two angels arrived at Sodom. S. What reception did the two him; for his sons in law, who had angels meet with at Sodom? T. Lot, who sat in the gate of Sodom, supposing them to be travellers, courteously met them and invited them to his house, to be Lodged for the night and refreshed. S. How many believed and went out of Sodom with righteous Lot? T. Only his wife and two daugh, ters that lived in the house with either been betrothed to these daughters, or who had before married some other daughters not mentioned in the sacred history, laughed at his advice, and mocked his words as idle tales. |